A vehicle barricade is a device disposed across a roadway or the like in order to control passage therethrough. Conventional barricades can be a temporary structure (e.g., a line of orange cones; or a concrete Jersey wall) which serves to prevent any traffic passage, or, a more permanent structure (e.g., retractable gates; pivotable barrier walls) which is selectively operable for vehicle passage. Barricades to be employed at the gate of a secured area or at the entrance and exit points of a vehicle parking area must be movable in order to permit authorized entry or exiting, while preventing unauthorized passage.
Numerous barricades have been proposed for preventing unauthorized access to a facility by transit along a roadway. Generally, such barricades include a barrier which is pivotal between a passage blocking position and a retracted passage position. This barrier is usually pivoted by a mechanical mechanism, such as an hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder and piston, which can be activated by a guard at an observation booth remote from the barricade.
Likewise, an occupant of a vehicle can operate mechanisms of a barrier blocking his entrance into a parking lot, for example, by inserting a magnetic card or obtaining a mechanically dispensed ticket indicating the time of his entrance into the facility. These barrier gates are often placed adjacent a parking attendant's booth to prevent patrons from exiting without paying. However, while these barrier gates deter a significant number of parking lot users from exiting without paying, they cannot withstand the impact force of an onrushing vehicle. Accordingly, an unauthorized exit from such a facility can occur if the vehicle's driver is so inclined.
Known barrier gate arms are usually of a lightweight material (e.g., wooden or hollow) and thus, any damage to a speeding vehicle is minimal. Further, if the entrance of a parking facility is remote from a guarded exit and does not have some sort of barrier, vehicles can slip out the entrance without being detected. This type of unauthorized passage of a vehicle is even more detrimental to the security of a parking facility or an automobile storage area (e.g., a car rental agency or dealership garage or lot).
In an attempt to prevent vehicles from being stolen or from exiting an entrance, barriers with teeth or spikes have been installed which can be retracted enabling cars to cross safely in one direction but display a plurality of spiked ends projecting menacingly toward vehicles travelling in the wrong direction. If a driver ignores this visible warning and attempts to leave through such a barricaded exit, the tires of his vehicle are severely punctured immediately resulting in flat tires and thus, preventing the vehicle from leaving the facility. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,101,235; 4,318,079 and 4,367,975 illustrate and describe conventional traffic controller barriers of this type. However, these barriers employ complicated mechanical and electronic control equipment for actuating and/or retracting spike like obstructions. Further, it is known to couple ground level barriers with gate barriers which are more visible to drivers; however, larger motors and more complicated circuitry is required to operate the two barriers in unison.
Other known spiked barriers have individually mounted teeth which can flatten out under the weight of a vehicle moving in the authorized direction. While expensive and complicated electrically operated motors are not required to retract individually pivotable teeth, either an excavated recess or above grade bump is required to house the individual springs and other mechanisms necessary to manually activate the teeth individually. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,016,379; 4,158,514; and 4,325,651 are representative of these one-way manually actuated devices.
Unfortunately, these spike barricades occasionally puncture the tires of an entering vehicle after they have cleared the barricade. Moreover, they require excavation of a roadway or the presence of a bump. A further disadvantage to these unattended spike barricades is that the damaging spikes could be rendered ineffective by the weight of an adult person or by an object such as a pillow. Thus, the problem of unauthorized entry and exiting of a facility is not overcome by known barricades with spiked ends, especially those installed at locations remote from an attendant.
Therefore, it can be seen that there is a need for an inexpensive pivotal barricade for use in areas remote from an attendant's booth which inhibits unauthorized entry or exiting in one direction, but permits safe passage of a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction, as well as a simple motorized barrier system for controlling vehicle traffic.